Winnipeg woman says she was stranded by Transit Plus despite pre-booked ride

Cheryl Kanhai has been disabled for five years, forced to use a wheelchair due to two autoimmune diseases. During that time, she’s relied on Winnipeg Transit Plus to get to and from her medical appointments. But this past Saturday, when she was waiting to be picked up from an appointment by a pre-booked ride, she says the service left her stranded.

“I’m waiting for my ride, I don’t get a notification or a text that the bus is on its way, and I call and I’m wondering what is going on,” said Cheryl Kanhai, who alleges she was abandoned by Transit Plus. “The call centre tells me that the bus is delayed 3 hours. For some reason they cannot find a bus to pick me up and take me for a 5-minute ride to my next appointment, and I have to wait 3 hours.”

Kanhai eventually arranged for a wheelchair-accessible van through a local taxi company. Adding to her frustration, she told news that when she called the Transit Plus dispatch, she was given no alternative options.

“I was explicitly told you have no options, you have to wait, thank goodness it wasn’t minus 30 outside,” said Kanhai.

CityNews reached out to Transit Plus about the incident. In a statement, the service said:

“If a Transit Plus vehicle has not arrived within a customer’s 30-minute pick-up window, we encourage customers to call our contact centre (at 204-986-5722). Our team will work with the customer to determine where the vehicle is, when it should arrive, and to find a quicker option if possible.

If a customer’s desired travel time cannot be accommodated, they may opt to cancel their trip with no fare charged. If a customer opts to keep their trip, our trip-booking system will work continually to attempt to reduce delays by making real-time adjustments as other trip cancellations come in.”

Transit Plus also commented on this specific incident:

“In this particular case, the delay was caused by high customer demand and we were unable to meet the customer’s desired pick-up time.”

“Bogus,” said Kanhai in response. “That’s absolutely incorrect because they would not have confirmed and sent me a confirmation of having the resources—meaning a bus and a driver—available to me for that ride. Regardless of what the demand was at that time, they are not an on-demand service.”

Kanhai says she intends to pursue legal avenues, and she expects more from the service she depends on.

“For vulnerable people, the risk is their life, period,” said Kanhai.